Calendar Style: Your Daily Motivation in 2011 and Beyond!

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One of the things on the most required list for hav­ing a pro­duc­tive year in my opin­ion: A cal­en­dar that speaks VOLUMES.

And not the empty-barrel kind, but some­thing that speaks to you. Some­thing that sparks you. Surely, that will be the case, as you will be the mak­ing the ulti­mate selection.

You may say that we’re already two to three weeks into 2011, but it’s not too late. It’s never too late!

My cal­en­dar for 2010—the bag-lovers dream fea­tured above, ensured that I had the most pro­duc­tive year that I had in years. This is not to say it worked alone, as I some­times con­sider 2010 a per­fect storm of moti­va­tion for me.

This par­tic­u­lar cal­en­dar, a hol­i­day gift from a friend moti­vated me in remark­able ways. I kept it on a shelve just above my workdesk, and every morn­ing it was the most excit­ing prospect to just tran­si­tion to that day.

It was to the point where I was look­ing for­ward to my days so much that I would sneak a peak when­ever I couldn’t wait for the next day, or (gasp) changed days when I thought I could do bet­ter (bag– or motivation-wise).

How­ever, more than any­thing, I looked for­ward to shar­ing whichever bag I would encounter with my co-workers, and on those occa­sions when I found a bag that was spe­cial all its own, but not quite me, I would go find or save it for its owner.

Call it what­ever you like, but my cal­en­dar in 2010 was a con­ver­sa­tion piece and aha moment!

Now, know­ing what a cal­en­dar that spoke my heart lan­guage has meant to me, I decided to chal­lenge some­one I love dearly, who is sur­pris­ingly orga­nized I might add (mean­ing he has a run-of-the-mill calendar/scheduler at his fin­ger­tips at all times) but has been unmo­ti­vated of late, to try a cal­en­dar that moved him.

I promised him that he wouldn’t have to do any heavy lift­ing. And so, while brows­ing in Bor­ders, I had the plea­sure of intro­duc­ing him to A Year With Obama. I had an inkling that this cal­en­dar might have been the ticket, as this loved one had stood in line and braved crowds, if only to shake the hand of the man who would be president.

I always and often say, I don’t care where you find your strength (and I mean the sus­tain­able good-for-you kind) but by all means, what­ever the resource, please grab hold for dear life.

Now, he didn’t have to get this cal­en­dar, because there’s noth­ing worse than a forced agenda, espe­cially when you are a woman try­ing to nudge and influ­ence a man. But he got it, and this is what he had to say after some prod­ding to actu­ally give up the goods:

It com­bats any lit­tle neg­a­tiv­ity I feel. See­ing some­thing… Sit­ting there at my com­puter the neg­a­tive is no longer a focus, because I can focus on some­thing else, some­one else who has achieved above and beyond. It’s just very inspir­ing and I need that.

And that is exactly the point.

As we share a home office space on occa­sion, even I, with my own daily inspi­ra­tions posted on every free space, will take a read, just to take in the quotable for that day. Today’s inspiration:

“When my daugh­ters were born, I made a pledge to them and to myself, that I would do every­thing I could to give them some things I didn’t have. And I decided that if I could be one thing in lofe, it would be to be a good father.”

Per­fec­tion, even and espe­cially for a lady with daddy issues.

This year, my per­sonal cal­en­dar was a birth­day gift and is all about shoes. How many know, this is right where I like to strut and find con­fi­dence to go along with all the carry-over moti­va­tion from last year.

What I think is ulti­mately impor­tant is that your cal­en­dar moves you, and moves with you, and on those rare and spe­cial occa­sions, it should def­i­nitely inspire a post or two.

What does your 2011 cal­en­dar say to or about you?

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